If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

There has been a sharp drop in the price of bitcoin and other virtual currencies after South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail was hacked over the weekend.

A tweet from Coinrail confirming the cyber-attack sent the price of bitcoin tumbling 10% on Sunday to two-month lows.

The world’s best-known cryptocurrency lost $500 (£372) in an hour, dropping to $6,627 on the Luxembourg exchange Bitstamp, while most other digital currencies also recorded large losses.

The latest attack highlights the lack of security and weak regulation of global cryptocurrency markets.

Coinrail later said in a statement on its website that its system was hit by “cyber intrusion” on Sunday, causing a loss for about 30% of the coins traded on the exchange. It did not quantify the value, but the local Yonhap news agency estimated that about 40bn won (£27.8m) worth of virtual coins was stolen.

Coinrail said: “Seventy percent of total coin and token reserves have been confirmed to be safely stored and moved to a cold wallet [not connected to the internet]. Two-thirds of stolen cryptocurrencies were withdrawn or frozen in partnership with related exchanges and coin companies. For the rest, we are looking into it with an investigative agency, related exchanges and coin developers.”

Police have begun an investigation, according to the Korea Herald, which cited a spokesperson as saying: “We secured the access history of Coinrail servers and we are in the process of analysing them.”

Bitcoin was trading at about $6,750 on Monday afternoon – down from an all-time peak of almost $20,000 in the week before Christmas. In February, it fell to $5,900.

1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Never trusted ghost money. It is basically a stock market with no product or company. The prices fly around and climb up based on rumors, then fall when crap like this happens. Sure you can make $20,000 in a day, but you can lose it in a day too.

I have $10 in bitcoin (probably worth $5 now!) that I just bought to have something to track. Maybe I will get lucky and make a $1M

Cryptocurrency just doesn't seem to be a very stable investment over the long haul

seems easily manipulated too. Especially if you are a hacker. You just have to attack some site, shut them down, and the price will drop like a rock. Buy all the bitcoin you want then wait for it to climb up, sell it, then rinse, repeat.

It is also easy to create your own cyrptocurrency and do an Initial Coin Offering, luring in suckers to invest in the next big thing. This is basically the snake oil of the 21st century.

It has legitimate purposes but it is also very easy to use as a con or fraud and to manipulate.